They often teased me and would put frogs in my bed and played many other

pranks on me. In fact David's favorite trick was to drop things on me like a blanket or leaves

when I would walk below him on the lower levels. This did not faze me and I enthusiastically

pranked them back. I was eager though to begin practicing my sword fighting and would try

slow short practices to help me regain my strength. After about two and a half months, I felt

strong enough to start some more strenuous practices and at the beginning of the third month I

was ready to spar with someone. David was the obvious choice for my sparing partner, as he

was the best of the Lost Boys at swordplay. Soone afternoon after I had warmed up for a while

I asked him if he would mind working with me. Now I have to say grandchildren that I was

rather arrogant and had been thinking to myself that I would beat him easily as I had probably

been one of the best swordsman in England even though I was of a young age. David proved

me wrong however and was instead an equal opponent. We started out slowly both feeling out

each other's strengths and weaknesses then began to move faster and faster. In and out we

danced. Parry! Thrust! Spin! Jab! Our swords rang with the force of our blows as each of us

tried harder and harder to overcome the other. Often one of us would surprise the other with a

technique that the other was not familiar with but neither of us was able to gain an advantage

over the other. I had always been quick to invent new moves in my fighting but this was taxing

me to the limit! Every new idea that I came up with and played out was met with one equally as

 good. By this time our swords were singing as they sped through the air as we gave each other

our best, however, both David and I were panting from exhaustion and the strain of the fight.

We were both worn out but our competitive spirits would not let us give in. Finally I tripped

over a stone and went down on my knee. Seeing this as a good opportunity to quit I called out

for a truce. David immediately pulled back, and we both stood gasping trying catch our breath. I

 was honestly very impressed with David's skill and once we had regained our wind I asked him

if he would like to practice with me every day. He readily agreed and from that day forward we

would practice our swordplay together.

Now grandchildren I wish that I could say that things continued on happily from there but it was

not so. As much as I enjoyed Neverland and staying with the Lost Boys, I was not content. Too

be perfectly honest I was homesick. Even though I had no one left, I longed to be back in

America or on a ship in the high sea. I had always been independent but now I felt a sense of

urgency and as I healed and started to explore the wonders of the island. David however, had

other ideas about what I should be doing. At first he set boundaries for me to stay within and

eventually moved to requiring me to always have "friend" on my wanderings as I grew stronger.

This drove me crazy! It was frustrating being watched everywhere I went and the fact that the

 other boys ran wild made it even worse. One very hot day we were down at the beach

swimming and trying to stay cool in the shade of the cliffs. Out a good ways in the bay was a

large rock where the mermaids liked to sit. I wanted to go out to the rock and talk to the

mermaids and seeing as how I was a powerful swimmer I figured that I would have no problem

reaching it. I voiced my idea but David objected strongly saying that the tide would soon come

in and be too swift for me to swim back to shore in my still semi weakened state. I protested

this saying that I had at least an hour before the tide came in and that a swim would do me

good. Finally, David gave in and I swam out to the rock. Oh grandchildren, mermaids are

fascinating creatures! They are so beautiful and unearthly yet they can be so vain and foolish or

incredibly intelligent. They had long hair like seaweed and their tails sparkled with gems.

Mermaids are very diverse and unique each having special and different knowledge. Some

 cared only for their looks and were absolutely gorgeous but knew nothing except how to

improve their beauty. Others were not as stunning but had great wealth's of knowledge about

the sea and the deeps. I spent 45 minutes with the mermaids and learned all sorts of wonderful

things about the sea and what lies beneath it, but it was time for me to head back. As I started

my swim back towards shore I was suddenly caught in a chilling rip tide. I tried to call out but all

my energy was absorbed in trying to fight the current. The mermaids dared not try to rescue

me for the current was too strong for even them so despite my best efforts I was slowly being

 pulled out to the open sea. It was Tinkerbell who again alerted the Lost Boys to my troubles and

helped them to rescue me. With her fairy dust she quickly had Sam and David flying out to

rescue me as I was still not very good at the whole flying thing (I had not yet mastered directing

myself in flight usually the wind blew me around). I can't say how humiliating it was to have to

be carried back to shore. David said nothing to me but the unspoken "I told you so" could be

felt hanging in the air. After this incident my friendship with David grew cold. I felt like

everything he said rubbed me the wrong way. Also I was discontent. I longed to be away from

Neverland more than ever. During this time I made friends with the Indian princess Tiger Lily 

and often shared my frustrations with her. By now I could roam freely as I pleased as long as I

told someone where I was going beforehand, so I often visited the Indian village and spent a

 great deal of time there. I discussed with Tiger Lily ideas of how to get back to America and we

finally came up with a plan to build a small sturdy boat. The Indians were great fisherman and

boat makers, frequently raiding the pirates who lived on the other side of the island. Tiger Lilies

older brother and some of the men in the village had agreed to build a boat for me in exchange

for me teaching them how to read. It surprised me that they wanted to learn this but I gladly said

 yes to their offer. Tiger Lily had a sort of 'tree house' of her own in the forest and we regularly 

met there to talk and plan. I loved sitting up there safe from the dangers of the forest talking to 

Tiger Lily.Together we carefully laid out the plans for my journey and when we were not making 

plans we marveled at how different our lives were. She was a princess and was surrounded by 

family members, while I on the other hand had slowly lost my family and felt as if I had no 

permanent home. She showed me how to embroider elaborate bead work onto buckskin 

dresses and even gave me a hide dress of my own. We often would set up our meetings by 

sending pigeons back and forth with notes on them and communicated quite efficiently in this 

fashion. One day I received a note from Tiger Lily that she not only wanted to meet at the tree 

house but wanted to stay there over night. This was not uncommon for us so I readily sent back 

my agreement. I did however have one problem. No one was left at the Tree House. All of the 

Lost Boys had decided to go on an adventure and climb the mountain. I had stayed back as I had

 recently twisted my ankle and wanted to rest it. Everyone felt that I would be safe at the Tree 

House since they would only spend one night away and were planning to be back later that 

afternoon.Now I knew that I should probably wait for the Lost Boys to come back or at least try 

to send them a message but I really had no idea exactly where they were or when they would get

 back so I wrote a note and left it on my bed. I packed a few items and left the Tree House and 

met Tiger Lilly at our fort.